‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’ TV Spots: Eva Green is a Goddess

Frank Miller comic book film adaptations and Eva Green are a good combination, as was demonstrated earlier this year by 300: Rise of an Empire – a companion piece to 300, so to speak, which features a scene-stealing (heck, movie-stealing) performance by the latter as the warrior Artemesia. This month’s new release Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, itself a companion piece to the original Sin City movie, also has Green playing what looks to be a memorable antagonist – one who gets the spotlight in the film’s latest TV promos.

Green, in the Sin City universe, plays Ava Lord, the “Dame to Kill For” (as Mickey Rourke’s Marv observes at one point) and femme fatale to Josh Brolin’s bad-tempered Dwight McCarthy. Of course, Miller’s heightened representation of a Noir setting is an extremely dangerous world that gives rise to equally threatening characters everywhere – male and female alike – as teased in the film’s red band trailer. So, in that sense, Green’s Ava isn’t so much a villain as she is just another ruthless player in the game.

Last night, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Green commented on her Sin City character and her frequent nudity in A Dame to Kill For, saying that “It’s not gratuitous for the character, she [uses] her sexuality as [a] weapon, it’s part of her.” She also pointed out that the hyper-stylized nature of Miller’s Noir universe allows the Sin City films to unfold as “beautiful” cinematic fantasies – ones that feature lots of graphic violence and nudity, but avoid coming off as “vulgar [or] indecent,” as she put it.

On that note, here’s a second fresh TV Spot for A Dame to Kill For, with Green’s Ava Lord getting her fair share of attention:

Of course, the question isn’t so much whether Green will impress with her performance in the second Sin City movie, but if the film around her will also clear the bar. Rise of an Empire opened about six years after 300, yet for many it felt like a bit of a step-down from its predecessor (if still entertaining on its own terms). A Dame to Kill For is arriving nine years after the first Sin City installment, which means it’ll be even harder-pressed to catch up with the changes that’ve transpired in the comic book movie landscape during that time.

Robert Rodriguez, who co-directed A Dame to Kill For with Miller (based on the latter’s script), hasn’t exactly reached for the sky with his recent directorial efforts (see: Spy Kids: All the Time in the World and Machete Kills). Then again, maybe having a talented cast and some intriguing story material to draw from on the new Sin City movie, will help to pull Rodriguez out of his funk.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens in U.S. theaters on August 22nd, 2014.